


The Adventures of Snapdragon and Yang Xiao Long

by Isaac_Wolfe_Grisham



Category: Original Work, RWBY, crossover - Fandom
Genre: Angst Stew™, Credit to Brandon Friend, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Mentally Ill Character, OC, Oc Ahoy, Oh and Blake is pregnant, Or at least that's how it's written, Other, Snap is a friend's OC, Superhero OC, We'll get around to it, While Ruby and Weiss are just kinda eh, Yang and Blake are Married, Yang and Snapdragon are fast friends, feels too, i don't know how to tag, mentions of past death, mentions of past trauma, neuroatypical character, the angst is strong with this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 21:45:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7908697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isaac_Wolfe_Grisham/pseuds/Isaac_Wolfe_Grisham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang, lost and confused, stumbles upon a strange man with green skin and a mop of purple hair, who calls himself Snapdragon, the self-proclaimed most hated person in London. He offers to help her find her way back to Remnant, despite his abnormal coloring, Yang finds herself trusting him more and more and the day goes on.</p><p>(( Crossover fic with my good friend Brandon, and his own universe for Snapdragon, and Snapdragon himself. Go give him a follow and a like over at http://the-gravity-falls-guy.tumblr.com/ ! And you can find me over at https://justanotherhomestuck.tumblr.com/ . Send me a prompt or two and I'll give you a short story~ ))</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Adventures of Snapdragon and Yang Xiao Long

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Adventures of Snapdragon](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/225412) by Rob_Surnam. 



> Hey there! This is a crossover between RWBY (Which is my domain, let me tell ya), and a friend's universe - Shoutout to Brandon over at http://the-gravity-falls-guy.tumblr.com/ ! Make sure to go give him a follow, the story behind Snapdragon is fascinating. So give that a read too! All credit for Snapdragon goes to him. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and the amazing crew over at Roosterteeth.
> 
> Brandon and I collaborated on this particular piece - And we're hoping to do more like this in the future! Enjoy!

Yang groggily blinked open her eyes, the light cast from the sun quickly irritating her irises, her faunus ears going back in irritation. _Wait, sun? I always have my blinds down in the morning..._ Her eyes shot open to an unfamiliar alleyway, sun shining through the narrow opening at the top, between two tall, decrepit-looking buildings. "Where am I and where are Ruby and Blake?" she wondered aloud, her voice croaking from disuse, her throat dry and raw. _How long have I been out?_ She carefully forced herself up, taking stock of her various injuries. There were a number of scratches and bruises, but nothing too bad, and nothing broken. Her aura would heal what was left in a few hours. Ember Cecila was still fit snugly on her wrists, thankfully, and Yang found herself grateful for the familiar weight of her gauntlets. She checked the rest of her supplies, taking note of what she had: A few extra dust rounds, along with normal bullets for her weapons, a crumpled wad of Lien, her scroll, which, by some miracle, still had most of a full battery, and a worn note from Blake, which simply read, “Good luck on your mission! I love you!” with a hastily scribbled heart next to it. It was a memento of Yang’s first mission as a full-fledged Huntress, carefully slipped into her pocket right as she was leaving, courtesy of one Blake-hug. 

She made her way out of the alleyway, ears twitching lightly as they picked up various sounds, tail swishing as she tried to get some feeling back into it, pins and needles flaring. She must have layed on it weirdly when she was passed out. She emerged onto an unfamiliar street, momentarily dazed by the now-stronger sunlight, before her vision cleared and she could get a good look at where she was. A sudden burst of sound hailed on her sensitive hearing and her eyes were assaulted with too much to look at, in too little time. It was like nothing she had ever seen; It looked nothing like Patch, or Vale, or any place in Remnant she'd ever been to or heard of. A vehicle roared past, engine blasting, and Yang jumped backwards, even though she wasn't near the actual road. What the actual fuck? No car was that loud, and even the heftiest of airships didn’t reach that volume. 

Once she was acclimated to the noise, she started walking, not following any distinct path. Eventually, she stumbled upon a cafe, where she asked where in the hell she was. She got an answer, thankfully, but it didn't help her at all. _London, England._

\-------------------------

Snapdragon checked the time on the giant clock tower he was passing by: 10:15 AM. Oh, it was great living near a giant clock tower. "Though the bell is a bitch when you're trying to sleep," he pointed out to himself, not caring that he said this out loud. Most people just looked over, realised it was the crazy green guy talking to himself once more, and continued on with their day as normal.

He had enough time to stop at the nearby cafe before he got to wherever the hell he was meant to go. "Actually, where was I going?" He asked himself. His memory sure had gotten worse recently. He checked the note on his hand, which read in awful, smudged handwriting, _Get new kettle._ Yeah, he could easily stop by the cafe for a cup of tea while on the way.

He entered the cafe and noticed it was almost empty, save for the bored-looking baristas and a couple of everyday civilians. Regulars, by the looks of it. But there was one girl there he had never seen before, and he knew everyone around here. Whenever there was a new person in the city, they would usually take one look at him and run. He wondered if this girl would react the same way.

Yang, flouting his expectations, didn't give him a second glance; a cup of coffee sat steaming in front of her, which she added a liberal amount of something from a scuffed flask to. It was whiskey, of course, courtesy of one Uncle Qrow, and she usually only used it if she needed to think, or, like now, needed a pick-me-up of some kind, despite the apparently early time. Hence why she poured it into a cup of coffee, of all things. Another bad habit picked up from her kind Drunk Uncle. 

She took a sip, not reacting to the sharp, bitter bite of the alcohol mixed with the tang of the black java, save for a small movement of the lions' ears on her head. She wasted no concern on the green-skinned lad going up to order some tea; It was a cafe, that was due to happen.

Snapdragon looked behind him after he placed his order. Green tea, his usual. He needed relaxation after the eventful morning he had. He was surprised to find the girl still sitting here, wholly unaffected by his presence. He wondered why she didn’t run away like the others, and came to the conclusion that maybe she’d seen more things, stranger beings, than him before, and she was just used to it.

Turning back to the counter, he waited patiently for his order to be filled. He would have made the green tea in his own home for free, but that's hard to do when your kettle burst into flames. "Fun times." He whispered to himself and smiled. 

He was somewhat relieved to see the girl hadn't left yet, even as her cup was almost empty. She saw her pull out her flask again, carefully pouring a good amount of something into the cup. Was she drinking this early? Given, it was London; That was to be expected, in a way. Then again, maybe she was different, like him, despite the early morning indulgence? It's not often you see a lass with lion ears on her head, is it? Maybe he should be scared of her? Then again, he was a plant, basically. Well, he was still human, but was also a plant. His biology was confusing, to say the least. 

His fringe fell in front of his eyes, so he moved the purple length of hair back to where it belonged. It was nice having purple hair. It matched his eyes.

\-------------------------

Yang didn't respond to his mutterings, or his strange looks of surprise; He seemed to be talking to himself, so she would leave him to it while she drank. Green skin and purple hair weren't very surprising to her, given the absurdity of Remnant itself, what with the Grimm she fought on a regular basis and semblances that ranged from Polarity to weaponizing sound waves. She continued to calmly sip her coffee, occasionally topping it off with a bit of whiskey.

Even as the man paid for his tea with the little money he had on him, watching him carefully count out bills, and as he searched for a place to sit, Yang was sure that he would come over to her. Birds of a feather flocked together, she knew. Of course, none of the other few patrons would let him anywhere near them, so he wasn’t surprised when he made his way over to her. 

He seemingly made sure to be careful walking over to her, but as he lay the cup and saucer on the table, a little spilled out onto the hardwood. "Sorry for that," he apologized, pulling a purple napkin out of his jeans pocket, wiping away the spill. He carefully folded the napkin and placed it back in his pocket before sitting down at the table with her, much to her own amusement. She had guessed right.

"It's fine," she said, neither friendly nor cold. More...distant. Bored, even, if you looked too far into it. She didn’t offer her name, not yet, as she had no idea where exactly she was and she wasn't sure how people would respond. The names she had heard mention of, gleaned from a bit of sneaky eavesdropping, were common, things like _John_ or _Edward_ , but that only served to perpetuate her hesitation. A name like _Yang Xiao Long_ would not be taken well, or with a grain of salt, she assumed.

\-------------------------

Snapdragon took a sip of his tea and smiled, picking up on her tone, but pointedly choosing to ignore it. Strangers were friends you just haven’t met yet, right? "You're not local, are you?" He asked her. "Well, I already know the answer to that one. I guess what I should be asking is, where are you from, exactly?" He wasn't sure if this simple question would get as simple of a response, but he might as well have given it a try.

"Kingdom of Vale, Remnant." She answered simply, not looking up from her drink. "I'm honestly not sure if I'm even on the right planet or in the same universe than where I was. England isn't even a place where I'm from." This time, instead of taking another sip of coffee, she took a swig straight from her flask. _I’m gonna become Uncle Qrow at this rate, ugh._ "I'm Yang Xiao Long, Huntress and Lion Faunus. What about you?"

Kingdom of Vale? Remnant? They sounded like some fantasy names from some fictional story. And that name, Yang Xiao Long, that name definitely wasn't one he'd heard before. But the thing that got him the most was England not being a thing where she was from. Was she a universal traveller, maybe? "I'm Snapdragon, vigilante and most hated person in London. If you're wondering my real name, I don't know it." He answered, taking another sip of his tea.

\-------------------------

"Nice to meet you, Snapdragon. Maybe you could help me figure out just what the hell I'm doing here, because the alcohol obviously isn't giving me any ideas." She laughed self-deprecatingly, and continued, "I doubt you're the most hated person. They'll probably hate me more once they realize I'm a public hazard." Another laugh, just as sarcastic and bereft of humor as the first. She stood carefully, and stretched, her tail making itself known as it straightened in a stretch as well, before curling down in a relaxed state by her legs.

"Maybe I could help you. I could add a star to my good deed chart if I do." He smiled, acting as though that was a normal thing to have. Though, Yang mused, if it helps him, then I have no room to judge. "And trust me, you're not as much of a public hazard as me. Big Ben's bell had to be replaced, because of me, and that thing's been sturdy since it was built!"

Yang looked at him with a curious expression. "...Big Ben?" Yang questioned. Ruby would have laughed herself to the floor if she had heard that. Wait, that reminded her… _Ruby!_

"Oh, gods, is Ruby here too?" She wondered out loud, worry tinged in her voice. Blake and Weiss could take care of themselves, but Ruby was her baby sister, and if she were here- Oh, no...Yang hastily pulled out her scroll, punching Ruby's number in with shaking fingers. She hoped beyond hope that it would connect, despite the fact that she could very well be on another world, far away from the CCT. A gusty sigh of relief forced its way out of her when the scroll started ringing. Ruby picked up on the second tone, with a shout of " _YANG!_ WHERE _ARE YOU_ , YOU WENT MISSING AND NOBODY KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED-!!" Yang held the phone away from her ear for a moment before responding, "Ruby, I'm fine, calm down. Where are you?"

"I'm at Beacon, I had to see Ozpin, where the heck are you so we can come get you? Blake and Weiss and I are worried sick!" When Yang heard that they were all still at home, safe and sound, a mix of emotions flooded through her: Relief, confusion, fear. That meant that Yang was nowhere on Remnant, but that also meant that her team was not here, which opened up another can of worms. "Ruby, I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain this but- I'm not even on Remnant anymore, I'm in some other world, universe, whatever, I don't know how I got here, but I promise to find my way back, okay? Ask Weiss and Blake if they know anything about spontaneous universe hopping. I have to go, though, I don't know if I'm able to charge my scroll here and I want to save the battery for emergencies, okay? I love you, sis." 

“I love you, too, Yang, just make sure to keep us all informed!”

“Will do.”

With that, she hung up, turning the device off as she had said. "Sorry about that," she mumbled to Snapdragon. "I had to make sure my sister was okay."

\-------------------------

Snapdragon heard the entire conversation Yang had with her sister, Ruby. Yang and Ruby, two names that don't at all come from the same area, surely. Yang seemed more of an Asian name, whereas Ruby was a name that was Victorian, if he remembered correctly.

It must have been awful for Yang, being stuck in a world she'd never heard of, away from her sister. Snapdragon knew what it was like to be without family, though that wasn't something he liked to think of in public. He didn't want to start the waterworks. 

"It's fine, don't you worry yourself. I can imagine it's hard to be away from your sister, especially this far." He told her. "I never had a sister, I don't think, but I have had a wife and child, and I know it was hard being away from them. It still is... But I digress. Shall we find a way back to your homeworld or whatever?"

"We definitely should, though I have no idea how we would go about it, considering that I don't have the first clue as to how I got here. And I'm sorry about your family...I know it's hard..." Yang pulled a face as she remembered what she had been forgetting, hitting her like a brick to the forehead; It had been nagging at the back of her mind since she woke up, something she knew was incredibly important, but every time she had tried to focus on it, it had slipped away from her grasp. 

She cursed and flicked on her scroll again, despite her previous reasoning, dialing another familiar number as she got up to pace impatiently. It took a few more rings this time before a familiar voice answered with a quiet, _Hello?_

"Blake! Oh my gods, I'm so, _so_ sorry, are you alright? How are you feeling? Your ankles aren't too swollen? You've been taking your vitamins and eating correctly, right? Have you been sleeping alright-?" Yang got cut off by the sound of a belle laugh over the phone, and a " _Geez_ , Yang, I'm not dying, I'm just pregnant. And I'm doing fine, though both the baby and I miss you regaling us with tales of your missions." Another pure note of laughter, and Yang's face was dominated with a smile and her posture relaxed as she found out that Ruby had carried her message, and Weiss was looking into it. Yang told her what she knew, and continued on with inquiries of her health and happiness, finally ending with, "I wish I could be there with you, kitten. I love you, and I promise I'll be back soon. Tell baby their momma misses them and to not worry, okay? I have to go. Love ya." 

She finally ended the call with a heavy sigh, tinged with relief that she was safe, but also sadness; She was away and she didn't know when she'd be back. She hadn't realized Snapdragon was watching the entire time, too caught up in her conversation with Blake to really notice. "Sorry, I..."

\-------------------------

This girl, Yang, seemed to have so many friends back in her home, and from what Snapdragon heard, one of those friends was pregnant. It must be nice, having friends.

"It's fine. I understand that you're worrying about your friends who are fuck knows where right now. But let's now focus on getting you home, shall we? Unless you want to stay here for a while and look around the city?" He suggested. "I wouldn't know why you'd want to do that, though."

"Actually, Blake is my wife, and she's currently pregnant with my baby. In vitro is a miracle, let me tell you." Yang didn't shy away from the topic, much to Snapdragon’s growing like for the girl; Why should she? She and her wife were as happy as could be and had a baby on the way. The only issue was that she wasn't with them, but he was going to do everything he could to help her get home.

"But, yes, you're right, I'm not really interested in looking around, only in getting back to my family. Ruby is super excited about being an aunt, and Blake's brother Adam is still super over-protective, so she should be fine in the defense department." The last part of the sentence was directed more towards herself than anyone else, a sort-of reassurance. He understood that sometimes that could help, as he himself did it often. He didn’t blame her, given the situation she was facing now.

"Well then, shall we get going?" Snapdragon asked Yang, gulping the rest of his green tea down in one go and throwing the cup at the wall behind the counter, smashing it. "Sorry!" He called out to the baristas.

\-------------------------

"Yeah," Yang winced slightly at the sound of the cup shattering, but it didn't bother her too much. "Any idea for where to start?" Well, for one, Yang was going to get out of there, because the shopkeepers looked very angry about the smashed cup. Yang got the feeling this had happened before, often, probably, even as she made for the door.

Snapdragon quickly followed her out, shutting the door carefully behind him, thinking up all manner of ideas. "Well, I guess I need to know what your universe was like to help you get back. There's no point in trying to get you back to a universe I know nothing about, and any information you give could help me figure out a reason as to why you're here in the first place."

"Well, there's four main Kingdoms in Remnant, along with a few islands outside of them. Atlas, Vale, Vacuo, and Mistral are the Kingdoms. There was a fifth, but it was destroyed a long time ago by the Grimm. That one was called Mantle." She started, letting it sink in for a moment before continuing. 

"The Creatures of Grimm, or just Grimm, for short, are a force that work to destroy humanity, and they are beings of pure darkness, often called the personification of inevitable destruction. I'm a Huntress; I've trained my whole life to be able to fight Grimm, in order to protect my world and family from harm. Vale, where I'm from, has natural defenses in the form of mountains and other formations, which helps contribute to its safety. Atlas relies on military and advanced technology for defense and offense, and they live in a colder climate without many natural barriers, but they make do with what they have. Vacuo is mostly desert-based, while Mistral is tropical. Both rely on their humid temperatures for defense, as Grimm don't do well in excessive heat." Yang paused for a moment, taking a breath before plowing forward. "Hunters and Huntresses are people that have exceptional skill on the battlefield, and use that skill to fight the Grimm. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and I all form Team RWBY, a group of four Huntresses that often go on missions together, but we do things solo as well, if the situation calls for it."

She stood silently for a moment, her eyes slipping closed as she tried to recall the last things that had happened before she woke up here. It came to her in bits and pieces, over the course of a long few minutes. She soon had a whole picture, though why some of the events happened were unclear.

"I remember being in Vale before I got here; Pretty sure I was at the CCT, or the Cross-Continental Transmit System. It's basically this huge tower that’s used for communication between kingdoms. I was calling my dad, and things got screwy, and...then I woke up here." Yang frowned. "It might've had something to do with the CCT, but Weiss would know more about that than me, since Atlas is the one who created it...Weiss is from Atlas, she's the head of the Schnee Dust Company, which kind of has a monopoly on the market there, but that last part is beside the point. She went to Beacon to become a Huntress, and she is, she just runs the SDC as well. I have no idea how she does it, though…”

Snapdragon took a moment to process all this information. "So your world is like this world a few thousand years ago, mixed with this world now, mixed with a fantasy nerd's wet dream?" Snapdragon asked her, adding that last part since he was probably that fantasy nerd when he was younger, from the broken memories that were left behind.

"From what you've said, the CCT thing is most likely the reason you're here. If you're able to get this Weiss person to explain how it's constructed and how it sends out its signals to me, I should be able to work out how the hell we'll get you back. But for now, I can't think of any way to get you back, unless the TARDIS suddenly appeared out of nowhere or a rip in the fabric of space and time were to be caused in both your universe and my universe, allowing us to universally travel through there."

He was sure this all sounded like mumbo-jumbo to the girl, but he was just spouting stuff out as he thought of it, as usual.

\-------------------------

Yang put in Weiss' number, and pressed the send key. While it was ringing, she questioned, "Wait, you have Doctor Who here?" She looked slightly puzzled, before Weiss picked up.

"Hey, Snow Angel, I need you to do me a favor and explain to me and one other person how the CCT works," Yang said, without preamble and forgoing any sort of conventional greeting. That's just how their dynamic worked; Neither felt the need to fill silence with unnecessary words or sentiment, but they got their point across well enough while trimming the extra. Though Weiss did audibly groan at the nickname as Yang put her on speaker. "Seriously, you're still not over Jaune calling me that, are you? And you know for a fact that Ruby is the only one who is allowed to call me anything like that..." 

Yang grinned before cutting to the chase. "Weiss, seriously, you know the situation by now, if the info I had got delivered." Yang waited for an affirmative before she continued. "Well, me and Snapdragon here pinpointed a possible cause, and a possible remedy to my situation. The last thing I did while I was in Remnant was call Taiyang at CCT in Vale; Then the call went screwy, and I woke up here." Weiss made a sound of surprise, unlike her, and told her to hold on. 

"I have a call log here from there, between you and your dad, and at the end of it, it trails off into jumbled code - which even I haven't been able to decipher yet. All we know is that someone put in a remote string of commands, which apparently had the effect of sending you to wherever you are. I'm under the assumption that, if we manage to figure out what commands were put in and in what order, we can mimic what happened before and get you right back here. It's risky; You might be sent to another universe entirely, and I have no idea how big of a range it has, so you'll have to find a place where nobody else gets pulled in."

Snapdragon cut in for a moment. "Do you happen to know the radius in which nobody else is allowed to be? It's hard to find places in London which aren't crowded with civilians." Snapdragon yelled down the phone to make sure Weiss could hear him. "By the way, would you be able to maybe read out one of those commands? It could be a set of commands that we use in our universe, maybe?"

Yang could almost hear Weiss wincing at his volume. "There's no need to shout like that; I can hear you just fine at an inside volume. And no, I don't, but a 20-metre radius should be sufficient, just be mindful that no one is near Yang when we start and when it's happening." With that, Weiss started reading off the bits of code, one digit at a time, before it started sounding a lot like a string of commands for a game engine; Easy enough to code, hard to implement correctly. The basics were all there, control schemes, graphical setup, input methods, the works. The one part was strange; It was a mix of destination code and execution hexadecimals, along with a lot of code that probably shouldn't be there if this was meant for an actual game.

Yang groaned into her palm as she slowly realized what had happened. " _Goddamnit_ , Weiss, of course you wouldn't be able to decipher it! It's for a game! It's a game engine!" Weiss went silent. "How they got it to work like this, I have no clue, but there was a string in there that sounded off...oh, goddamnit. This is one of those times I hate the fact that I play way too many video games."

"There is no way in hell we can accurately send me back to Remnant, or, least, not without a huge amount of risk, because the code they used was for a glitch; It's called arbitrary coding, and it's mainly used to utilize glitches in a lot of games. But, if you mistype one character or digit, it can have a completely different outcome, from color pallet swapping to a full-on crash of the game."

"I have no clue what any of that means, but I think I have an idea for how we can get you back." Snapdragon told Yang. "Thanks for the help, Weiss!" He yelled, seeming to intentionally raise his voice this time. He started mumbling to himself about consoles he kept in his home and the prices of ones he didn't have. There was also mention of it probably bring a stupid plan that would have an extremely low chance of succeeding and an extremely high chance of exploding, but he made sure to make that part completely unintelligible.

Weiss didn't rise to the bait; There was a reason she was the CEO of hugely successful company, and one of those was that she had a good hold on her temper. 

"Yang, I didn't realize you knew that much about those games I always see you playing; I just assumed you only played them." Weiss sounded a tad bit apologetic as she spoke. "But it seems you know a lot more than I do; I actually didn't understand half of what you said."

"Just get Ruby to read it, she'll know what to do. She doesn't just make weapons outside of the game, y'know; She designed and help me implement them in a lot of my games. And yes, before you ask, I have made a few small-fish games. Don't get excited, they weren't that great and were more side projects than anything. Anyway, get her to look it over; I'm betting she'll know a way to execute it. She's always been better with arbitrary code than me, the little cheater; She always did know how to use it to her advantage."

Yang quickly finished the call after Weiss promised to call back in a few minutes, when Ruby got there; She had gone out on a convenience store run because they were out of cookies, which made Yang let out a snort of laughter. That's Ruby for ya, a grown adult and will still go out at midnight if she discovers that her cookie supply was low. 

"Now, what's your plan?" She turned to Snapdragon, hand on her hip as she stared him down.

Snapdragon stopped mumbling at the sound of Yang calling him, seemingly angry. "My plan is simple. Well, not really. I'm not sure if you've heard of the Virtual Boy, but that was the first virtual reality console to exist. Sure, it was a flop, but it was still a thing, and I still have mine. We're going to use that to get you back." Snapdragon excitedly explained.

"Now I know that sounds stupid, but it could work. I would use a more expensive VR headset, like the Rift or the Vive, but that costs money, something I don't really have. Anyway, the Virtual Boy itself is probably not powerful enough to run the game that seemed to be created through that CCT thing, so we're going to connect other consoles to it. The NES, SNES, Genesis, Master System, GameCube, Playstation, Xbox. All those consoles and more, hooked up to the one virtual boy, making it powerful enough to run. We'll also connect my dinosaur of a PC, which is currently running Windows XP, to the console, so we can try to recreate that code and work out how to get you back from there. What I'm thinking is, the Virtual Boy will go from being Virtual Reality to Real Reality, allowing you to get back to whence you came. This is going to be a fun day."

Surprisingly, that didn't go over Yang's head; To anyone else, that plan seemed ludicrous, but to Yang, it made perfect sense. But one question still nagged at her.

"But if we execute the same code, wouldn't that just recreate an entrance into this world?” She reasoned. “From what I can tell, it was made to be a one-way street, and the destinations were pretty clear. I'm thinking that we would have to switch the code for here- which, in this case, seems to be a set of longitude and langitude coordinates- with the code for Remnant, which is a risky move in and of itself, seeing as we also have the arbitrary code to deal with. I trust Ruby with coding, seeing as she does it for a living when she isn't being a Huntress, and I'm 100 percent sure she'll get it right- The problem is, do you have the skill to connect all these systems? I know most of them are pretty complicated, even from the semantics stage..."

"Do I have the skill to connect all these systems? Of _course_ I do! I'm a console genius! I've been using consoles and upgrading them since I first became Snapdragon, and maybe even before! Seriously, I've had bugger all else to do." Snapdragon explained to her, an eager glint in his eyes, one he got, Yang noticed, when he spoke of something he was passionate about, and console gaming seemed to be one of those things. "I'll easily connect the consoles, Ruby can sort out the coding, you can go home and I can get the star on my chart!" He grabbed Yang's hand and started running towards his home. "By the way, yes, we have Doctor Who. It's filmed in the UK, which we're in right now."

Yang went along with the eager Snapdragon, mentally questioning what he meant by _became_ , but she knew it probably led to places best left undiscovered for now. 

\-------------------------

As she stepped across the threshold at his home, her scroll went and played its ringtone for Ruby; A rock-and-roll song with heavy guitar and heartfelt lyrics. Yang immediately answered, cutting off the song right before the refrain. 

"Hey, Rubes, whatcha got?" Yang drawled, slipping back into her old Patch accent, much to Ruby's chagrin. 

"You were right to get me involved- Weiss didn't seem to have a stinkin’ _clue_ as to what she was doing, but she mentioned arbitrary code, and you know how I am about that." Yang could hear Weiss in the background, calling about how _she had a clue, you little brat_ , which Ruby promptly ignored. "I've already worked out the code and the kinks- Whoever did it seems to have a basic understanding of what they were doing, but didn't seem to understand how to use graphical values, which I assume are important if you're keen on keeping all your limbs." 

"Wait, Ruby, check to make sure the arbitrary _doesn't_ go through the fucked graphical values- That may just be what let me keep my limbs the first time around." 

Ruby gave a quick affirmation, and could hear lightning-fast typing and random clicks while Ruby went over it again, before she came back to the phone. "It doesn't seem to- The arbitrary seems primarily on location, not graphics. Though I can change the graphical values back to what they were, just in case. Weiss still prefers printouts, so that's not an issue, it'll just take a few minutes for me to put it back."

Yang nodded, still standing right inside the door as Snapdragon sped around, various tools and parts in his hands every time he came past. "Please do. I don't think it would be wise to change anything unless completely necessary, like swapping the locations to avoid creating a paradoxical loop. I don’t want to accidentally pull a Homestuck..." Yang could hear Ruby typing away again, along with a sucking sound like a straw - she probably had her usual cola - and munching, presumably from the cookies she had just bought.

"I gotcha, and don’t even get me started on Homestuck, you know how I get about that," Ruby said after another slurp of soda. "Aaaaand...that's back to the way it was, you don't have to worry about that." 

"I'm still amazed at how fast you manage to do these things, honestly. You should have been a game developer instead of a huntress, I swear." 

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't have you guys," She let out a small laugh. "Alright, whenever Dragon dude is done setting up the hardware, I can send the code through your scroll, and to a wireless port. I know you've made some mods to yours that allows a greater data input/output window, so you'll be set after that."

“Snapdragon,” Yang corrected gently. Even though she’d known him less than a day- A few hours at most- She felt like she’d found a good friend in him. Uncanny, that, but good things just happen sometimes, as well as bad things. 

"Snapdragon," Ruby echoed. The sound of her sister sitting back in her desk chair with her after-coding cookie was a comfort, even if it was just because of the familiarity of the gesture. "I really hope this works, Yang, because if it doesn't...or if something goes wrong...I don't know what I'd do without my big sister, or what Blake would do without her wife, or what your kid would do, I don't know, Yang, and that scares me. I don't want to lose you and know that it was my fault because something went wrong with the code..." Ruby sounded 15 again, on her way to Beacon, nervousness and innocent ignorance in her tone; A child, by any meaning of the word, despite her age and experience of the world. No one liked thinking they were going to lose someone dear to them, even if they had lost so many people already. But, perhaps that what exacerbated her need to hold to people while she could- Because no matter how you may play, you were still going to lose a few friends along the way. And Yang couldn’t blame her kid sister; She’d lost more people than the rest of them could ever fathom.

"Meimei," Yang said the nickname softly, affectionately, "It'll be okay, I promise. I'll make it back there. I have faith in you, sis. And when I do get back, hows ‘bout we cuddle up on the couch and watch _The Lion King_?" It was something of a tradition with Yang and Ruby to pull out the old movie when one of them was feeling down or if something was going well, and using it as a way to celebrate. It was one of their favorite movies, partially because when Yang was a child she would roar along with the lions on screen, while Ruby sat and laughed at her antics.

Ruby sniffled slightly, and Yang knew that Ruby was crying; She was thinking about how she might have to watch it alone. "That sounds good, Kovu," She said shakily, her own nickname for Yang falling easily from her, even though she hadn't been called that in years, even though Yang thought the name was only going to be in here memories. But, once again, Ruby proved her wrong in the best way. 

"I love you, Meimei." Yang said, her own voice shaking with un-shed tears. "I promise, I will make it back."

"I love you, too, Yang," Ruby replied, "And I know you will."

\-------------------------

It was definitely hard to connect all these consoles together, Snapdragon wasn't going to lie about that. This would be seven generations of consoles, all being modified to plug into one outdated piece of technology which was made in a way that wouldn't allow anything like this without a complete remodeling. Hey, at least he was able to make the console more comfortable to play, removing that stupid bipod thing and making it have a modern strap, with wires which attached to the NES, SNES and N64 (the easiest ones to connect the wires to). He also modified the controller port to make it a Gamecube controller, the most comfortable controller of them all, at least in his own opinion.

Even harder than all of that, though, was getting the Sega consoles to connect to the Nintendo ones, to connect to the Sony console, to connect to the Microsoft console, to connect to the PC. He had luckily already modified the Xbox to connect to the PC, since they were both Microsoft products, but the rest was going to take a bit of time. Nintendo and Sega were strong competitors in their high times in the video game market, so connecting those consoles would probably be the hardest, whereas the easiest would be connecting the N64 to the Sony PlayStation, since the PS was originally being made by both Sony and Nintendo. 

"Just to warn you, this may take a few hours." He told Yang, peeking his head around the doorway. "You may want to take a seat somewhere. Sorry about the mess, by the way."

With that, he quickly got on with connecting all these consoles together and modifying the Virtual Boy to make it almost perfect. Well, perfect in his eyes, that is.

"Alright," Yang said dismissively, "Just make sure the code is going through the computer, that's what it's designed for."

Yang just slid down the wall to sit on the floor, not even bothering to try and find an empty chair to sit on. The floor was good enough for a few hours, and she might need to lend a hand anyway. 

"Ruby...?" Yang muttered, unaware if she was still on the line or not, until Ruby responded with a quick, "Yeah, Yang?"

"Can you...can you go get Blake? Or bring the phone to her? I wanted to talk to her, but I'm not sure I'll be able to keep the nerve up to call her if I leave this call." Yang voice was shaking slightly as she sat there, a hand coming up to brush away the tears that were starting to fall.

Ruby made a choked sound before Yang heard her getting up and rushing downstairs, talking softly to Blake before handing over the scroll. "Yang, what's up? Ruby said you were crying, what's wrong, love?" 

At the sound of Blake's voice, so full of concern and love, Yang broke down; She was _scared_ , just as scared as Ruby was, that this wasn't going to work, and that _something_ would go wrong, that she wouldn't be able to make it back. She didn't care that she sitting on the floor of an unfamiliar house, its main occupant a few rooms away. She openly cried, broken sobs wracking her frame, all of the pent-up stress finding its way out in the form of soft cries. Yang hadn't cried like this in years, not since Zwei passed away, and Blake didn't stop her, knowing this could be the first time in a long time Yang would be able to. She just whispered to her, quiet condolences and occasional snatches of song coming from Blake, trying her best to not break down herself; There would be time for that later.

Once Yang had cried herself out, sobs quieting down into sniffles, Blake noted the time; It had been a good amount of time since Snapdragon had poked his head in and said it would be a while. "Yang," Blake said softly, "I need you to go check on Snapdragon, once you're ready. Just to make sure he's doing it right. Take a few more minutes if you need it, alright?" Yang _hmm'ed_ an affirmative, taking a minute to compose herself and to wipe her tears, before getting up and following the hallway into the last room she had seen him go into.

\-------------------------

Snapdragon heard Yang crying, but that made him even more persistent. He knew he needed to do this right or else she'd lose so much. Family, friends, her home... All things he'd lost before... 

He knew she was going to make it home. She had to. If she didn't, he couldn't get his star and she couldn't be happy. He didn't want her to live through the same pain he did, either. He didn't want anybody to live through that pain. 

When she entered the room, he was busy finishing up. He was making the Virtual Boy look sleeker, wiring up the GameCube controller and painting the console yellow to match Yang's hair. He also painted the acronym "Y.H.G.H.M", which stood for _Yang the Huntress's Going Home Machine_ , in white paint, along with RWBY in red, white, black and yellow respectively. 

What he didn't do, however, was tidy the mess of wires on the floor, so it looked like a bomb had been dropped in a gypsy's caravan. 

"Almost done, Yang. You'll be home soon." He smiled, hoping that would cheer her up.

"I hope so," Yang couldn't help but laugh, her tears dried up, as she thought of how absurd this all was. Even the color he had painted the headset- Which put a smile on her face, she admitted- was seemingly strange to her. Otherworldly, almost, she thought, amused.

Walking into the room, careful of the wires strewn on the floor, she asked if Ruby could send the code yet. All Ruby had to do was hit the enter key on her computer, and it would be sending.

When she finally got confirmation, that yes, she could send it, Yang heard a resounding _clack!_ as if Ruby had slammed her thumb on the key a bit too hard and the cover had popped off...it wouldn't have been the first time. Even so, Yang noted that the transfer had started with a small note of satisfaction. A few more minutes and they would have to take that leap of faith that it would work. If it didn't...she didn't want to think about that again.

\-------------------------

Snapdragon realised, at this moment, that the friend he made today would be gone forever if this worked. The one time someone actually liked him and he gets to be with them for less than a day. _Typical Snapdragon luck_. Today had been a pretty bad day for him, but while this would make him feel alone again, he'd feel better from knowing he actually helped someone, for once.

"What are you going to do when you get home?" He asked Yang. "I mean, you're obviously going to see your friends and family and whatever, but what else?"

Yang seemed lost in thought for a moment, before answering carefully, "I'm going to sit down on the couch and watch _Lion King_ with Ruby, and then take a long ride on my motorcycle once she's tuckered out and put to bed. When I get back, I'm just going to go to sleep, cuddled up to Blake, because today...was exhausting, and I'd love nothing more than to curl up with my wife and sleep for a good 12 hours." Yang laughed as Blake's own laughter echoed through her scroll, realizing that Blake was still on the phone. 

"When I wake up, I'm just going to lay there with Blake and count my lucky stars that I have her, and Ruby, and Weiss, and the baby, and everyone else I'm so lucky I have." Yang sounded on the verge of tears again. "And I'm going to send up a wish to the moon that you find someone to love, Snapdragon. Because even though the people here dislike you, that doesn't mean that someone else won't love you just the way you are."

Snapdragon teared up a little at the end. "I'm not crying. I'm have something in my eye." He insisted. "Thank you, though. Honestly, I haven't felt love in so long. It's been seven years, now. Seven long years of being this freak. Seven long years remembering the tragedy that happened to Shauna and Isabelle. In that seven years, you've been my only friend. If it wasn't for whoever it was messing up the coding, I wouldn't know what friendship felt like again, probably. So thank you for existing. You make sure you take care of Blake, Ruby, Weiss and the baby."

He wiped the tears away from his eyes and hugged her. "And remember, never change, no matter what. You're fucking great here and I'm sure you're great in your own world, so never change, please."

Yang wrapped her arms around him tightly, returning the hug with the same amount of emotion, muttering "Thank you," against his shoulder as the machine dinged, signifying that it was ready to go, they just needed to start it.

Yang pulled away first, wiping away her own tears, before opening up her camera on her scroll. "Something to remember me by," Yang said, snapping a picture of herself and him, a tear-streaked smile shining on her face as she pulled him in for the shot, before sending it to the computer as well. It popped up in another window, a bit blurry, but still there.

Finally, she took a deep breath, and said, "Tell me what I need to do."

\-------------------------

After composing himself, Snapdragon returned to his normal, overly-excited self, trying to forget that he's about to lose a friend. He had to be strong for Yang, too. He couldn’t let her be sad, or the baby and Blake would be sad with them. "Right, you simply need to put on the Virtual Boy headset and allow the code to be sent through to the computer. On my mark, you must hold down L and R, and while doing so, you must press X, X, X, Y. That code should then allow you to get home. Simple, right?" He took a breath and sat by the computer. He made sure to lock the window with the selfie Yang took of them as always open. 

"I'm going to miss you, you know?"

Yang looked over at him before strapping on the headset, saying, "I know. I'm going to miss you, too." 

She could only see darkness behind the headset, along with a small flash at regular intervals; Probably the mirrors working. Yang made sure she had the code down-pat before they begun, feeling along the buttons to make sure she knew which ones to press.

"Blake, I'm gonna put my scroll in my pocket, just to make sure it doesn't get lost on the way there, okay?" Once she got a quiet _okay_ , she slipped it into a pouch at her waist, making sure to close it securely before positioning her hands again on the controller, poised to pound out a button combo.

"Alright, I'm ready," Yang said solemnly.

Snapdragon hit the button to execute the code, and added in the command to make it so that Yang would get home after hitting the buttons required.

Before she went, however, he changed the code a little to make it so that it said _Goodbye, Yang. Enjoy your days with your friends and family_ , on the Virtual Boy screen right after she hit the buttons, just before she left.

"Alright, hit the combo. And don't forget to tell your friends hi from me."

"I won’t, don’t worry." Her index fingers went to hold down the shoulder buttons, right thumb tapping the combination out slowly, and right as she finished, the message flashed, and she let out a choked sob.

"Good-bye, Snapdragon. Til we meet again." Yang said quietly, before her body became as insubstantial as light; Or at least, that's what Yang felt like. Everything went black for a moment, before she found herself back in her room, sprawled on her back, Ruby and Blake and Weiss crowding around her and showering her with love and affection, which Yang happily returned, tears spilling over again.

But she couldn't help the thought, nagging in the back of her mind, that she had left Snapdragon alone again, in an empty room save for the impromptu machine, a headset from his favorite console, and another crack to his already mangled heart.

And she found herself crying out of more than happiness, grief tinging her tears as she realized she felt like she had lost a dear friend.

\-------------------------

Snapdragon just sat on the chair, alone, watching as the Virtual Boy headset fell to the floor with a _clunk_. He started crying to himself, alone once more. He turned to the selfie of them on the computer screen. It was strange seeing himself sad, and looking at it just made him even worse. The one friend he had in 7 years, gone. He exited the room, grabbing a sharpie on the way out and locking the door. He wrote on the door _peaceful place for memory moments_. With that, he headed upstairs, still distraught that this one friend was forever gone.

But she was still there in his heart.

In his heart with Shauna and Isabelle.

Sitting on a wooden chair, he played his acoustic guitar, strumming out _Yellow_ , by Coldplay, the song he would now associate with Yang. Music dripping from skilled fingers, melancholy splashed in his words, he found himself singing along with his mournful tune.

_Look at the stars,_  
_Look how they shine for you,_  
_And everything you do,_  
_They were all Yellow..._

When he was done, he walked to his door and finally did what he believed he deserved.

He stuck the star to the chart, the smiling face being the only one there.

_He deserved this._


End file.
